Atlanta’s rolled aluminium firm Novelis Inc. announced this week that it has begun operations of a closed-loop-recycling partnership with German firm Smart Press Shop (SPS), which is a joint venture between Schuler Group and Porsche AG.
The new closed-loop-recycling circuit will begin at Novelis’ plant in Nachterstedt, Germany, where aluminium flat rolled products are produced and sent to SPS, which then returns scrap aluminium to Novelis’ plant. The scrap aluminium is then recycled and made into high-quality rolled aluminium and sent again to SPS for use as lightweight automotive body parts.
As recycling aluminium only produces about 5 percent of the CO2 that production of primary aluminium from bauxite does, Novelis estimates that the closed-loop system will save up to 100 thousand metric tons per year from entering the atmosphere.
Michael Hahne, Vice President, Automotive, Novelis Europe, said in a press release that the partnership dovetails with his firm’s aims at circular aluminium production.
“SPS and Novelis are ideal partners to advance the automotive industry closer to achieving the standards of a circular economy through sustainable material sourcing and production. At Novelis, we have a remarkable story to tell about our closed-loop-recycling innovations. From our objective of achieving zero waste-to-landfills to becoming carbon neutral, we take our responsibility as a global sustainability leader very seriously and look forward to all that we can achieve with SPS.”
Hendrik Rothe, Managing Director of SPS, said the move is partly in response to growing consumer demand for sustainable products.
“High-end car customers have a clear vision of what they expect manufacturers to provide, and in addition to premium quality, sustainability is playing an increasing role. With our partner Novelis, we are able to take intelligent automotive designs and manufacturing to new heights by making more efficient, sustainable automotive components and increasing the resiliency of our supply chain.”
Novelis is a subsidiary of Mumbai’s Hindalco Industries Ltd. Based in Atlanta, the firm accounts for almost half of Hindalco’s consolidated revenue. The world’s largest recycler of aluminium, Novelis conducts operations in ten different countries, employs around eleven thousand people, and reported US$17.1 billion in net sales for the most recent fiscal year.
